Reed for saxophone or clarinet mouthpieces



Aug. 26, 19246 H. M. CHIRON ET AL REED FOR SAXOPHONE 0R CLARINET MOUTHPIEC ES Filed April 11. 1923 IN VENTOR5 H.M.Chwon F. Parme ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 26, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. HIPPO'LYTE MARIUS GHIRON FREDERIG PARME, 0f NEW YORK, N. Y.

REED FOR SAXOPHONE OB CLARINET MOUTHPIECES.

Application filed April 11, 1923. Serial No. 631,262.

To all whom z'timay concern:

.Be it known that we, HIPPOLYTE M. CmRoN and F REDERIC PARME, citizens of the United States, residing at New York, in thecounty of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reeds for Saxophone and Clarinet Mouthpieces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to reeds used in the mouthpieces of so-called reed .instruments and the main object is the design of a reed which has a far greater vibratory power than those now in common use, especially useful for saxophones and clarinets.

Another object is to provide a reed having grooves formed on its face, which relatively increase the linear vibrating surface of said face and thereby give a richer and more resonant tone.

These and other objects will become apparent in the description below-,in which characters of reference referto like-named parts in the drawing.

lieferring briefly tothe drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a musical instrument mouthpiece, showing the method of .using the reed therewith.

Figure 2 is a perspective 'view of the modified type of reed per se.

F igure 3 is a top plan view of the preferred type of reed.

Figure 4 is an end elevational view of Fi ure 3.

ferring in detail to the drawing, the

numeral 1 indicates the main body of the mouthpiece, the collar 2 projecting from one end being insertible into the instrument. The opposite end 3 of the body tapers to a tip 4, said tip being flat on top and having an opening therein which is normally covered by the reed 5, the latter being retained in place by clamp straps 6 which are mounted on the body intermediate its length. The reed is preferably formed of a wood whose fibres have relatively great vibratory powers and extend longitudinally. The bottom surface 6 of the reed is flat to lie in secure contact with a similar flat surface formed on the mouthpiece. The rear end 7 of the reed is the thickest portion and tapers toward the opposite end to a point 8 which is approximately of paper thickness. The top face 10f both the preferred and modified types of reeds are arc-shaped or curved across its width, the thickest portion being at the-center of the feed. The preferred form of reed has apluralit-y of grooves 9 which are all of the same length and extend longitudinally over approxiinately three-quarters of the length of the reed, said grooves being separated by ridges 10. The preferred type of reed as shown .in Fig. 3 is similarly constructed, but the longitudinal grooves therein are augmented b an additional series of angularly transverse grooves 11 which break up the longitudinal channels into a sections. e

I In use, the thinnest portion of the reed covers the opening but is separated by aspace 12 from the tip 4 of the mouthpiece body 1. When the mouthpiece is blown through, the reed will vibrate rapidly to cause a musical sound. The material of which the reed is made, is preferably fibrous such as bamboo stalk or the like, said fibres extending longitudinally on the reed.

We claim A bamboo reed for a mouthpiece of a saxophone or clarinet comprising a rectangular member thickest at one endand tapering longitudinally toward the opposite end, a curved top face on said reed, a plurality of grooves extending longitudinally 'and parallel to each other on the curved face of said reed, said grooves being aligned with the longitudinal edges of the reed, the

plurality of smaller,

grooves and the ridges formed between said grooves providing an undulating surface, an additional plurality of grooves of similar conformation extending angularly transversely on the curved surface of the reed, said last-named grooves communicating with the longitudinal grooves and dividin the longitudinal ridges into ridges of shorter length.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

HIPPOMLYTE, MARIUS GHIRON. FREDERIC PABME. 

